State Briefs

Tennessee’s October unemployment rose 0.1% over September, increasing to 3.3%. The state’s unemployment rate remained 0.6% lower than the national unemployment rate of 3.9%. Tennessee maintained an all-time low unemployment rate of 3.1% in July and August of this year, but was 0.2% lower than the...

A record-breaking number of students have applied for the Tennessee Promise scholarship program, according to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC). More than 66,000 high school seniors applied for the program as of the close of the current cycle on Nov. 1, an increase of 3.6% over the...

RetireReadyTN has received three awards for its readiness education programs that benefit Tennessee public employees and teachers. The program receive the Pensions and Investments 2022 Excellence and Innovation Award, Plan Sponsor Magazine 2023 Public Defined Contribution Plan Sponsor of the Year...

Student reading scores for third graders improved in thrice-yearly screenings and over their previous years’ scores, according to a review of the Tennessee Literacy Success Act by the Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability (OREA). The study found more third graders scored...

Unemployment in Tennessee inched upward in September 2023 from the state’s all-time low rate of 3.1%, The Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) reported a rate of 3.2% in September after two months of historic low rates. The rate of 3.2% is still 0.2% lower when compared to September...

Tennessee revenues for September totaled more than the state collected in September of 2022, but less than the budgeted estimates.  

Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson reported that September tax revenues were $2.2 billion, which is $29.4 million more than September of last year...

The state of Tennessee will receive more than $1.2 billion from the federal government for roads and bridges thanks to the new bipartisan infrastructure law. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced the state will receive $1.28 billion from 12 different...

Officials with the town of Three Way, Gov. Bill Lee, and the new park ranger over the new Middle Fork Bottoms State Park toured the facility as part of the governor’s statewide conservation tour. Middle Fork Bottoms opened as a recreation area in 2022 and was recently named one of four new state...

The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) is providing a majority of licensed child care agencies with increased reimbursement rates under the Child Care Certificate Program. Under the Child Care Certificate program, the state pays a reimbursement rate directly to child care providers on...

Tennessee’s poverty rates are on the decline, but stagnated compared to the national average, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Tennessee poverty rates typically follow a pattern where they drop below the U.S. national average for two years then stagnate for one. Overall, Tennessee...